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Congress and Police Reform: Current Law and
Recent Proposals
Updated June 19, 2020
In May and June 2020, protests erupted nationwide after the publication of video footage of a
Minneapolis police officer pressing his knee into the neck of George Floyd, leading to his death. That
incident and its aftermath have sparked heightened interest in Congress's ability to implement reforms of
state and local law enforcement.
As a companion to this Sidebar outlines in greater detail, congressional power to regulate state and local
law enforcement is not without limits. The Constitution grants the federal government only certain
enumerated authorities, with the Tenth Amendment reserving all other powers for the states. The
regulation of state and municipal law enforcement is an area that the Constitution generally entrusts to the
states. However, Congress possesses some authority to legislate on that subject, primarily through statutes
designed to enforce the protections of the FourteenthAmendment and legislation requiring states to take
specified action in exchange for federal funds disbursed under the Spending Clause. This Sidebar
provides an overview of existing federal authorities intended to prevent and redress constitutional
violations by state and local public safety officials. It then presents some recent proposals that would
change federal regulation of state and local law enforcement. The Sidebar concludes with a list of
additional CRS resources related to law enforcement reform.
Federal Regulation of State and Local Law Enforcement
Existing federal remedies for constitutional violations by state and local law enforcement include civil
and criminal enforcement by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and private suits by individuals
deprived of their rights by someone acting under color of' state law. In addition, the federal government
encourages states to enact certain policies related to law enforcement by placing conditions on federal
funding. Federal agencies also independently investigate and gather data on law enforcement activities.
Federal Criminal Law
A provision of the federal criminal code, 18 U.S.C. § 242 (Section 242), makes it a crime for (among
other things) a person acting under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom to
willfully subject[] any person.., to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured or
protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States [.] Section 242 also prohibits a person acting
Congressional Research Service
https://crsreports.congress.gov
LSB10486
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